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Conviction of B.C. man who killed and beheaded victim upheld by appeal court

A man convicted twice of a brutal 2001 drug killing and dismemberment has lost his latest appeal in the gruesome case.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that there was no error made by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan when he convicted Mihaly Illes of first degree murder in July 2011.

Illes was convicted of shooting Javan Dowling four times in the back of the head in April 2001 because he suspected him of stealing money from their drug operation.

Dowling's slaying only came to light after a mental health worker was told "a disturbing story about a killing involving a head in a bucket, by someone she was dealing with," Wednesday's ruling by Appeal Court Justice Christopher Hinkson noted.

Police later found Dowling's limbs and torso buried in one spot near Squamish and his head buried in another location.

Illes had argued on appeal that McEwan had erred by relying on the evidence of one unsavory witness to corroborate the evidence of another unsavory witness - both of whom were involved with Illes in the drug trade.

But Hinkson said in rejecting the appeal that McEwan found corroboration for the testimony of the unsavory witnesses in evidence provided by a woman who said Illes had confessed to her and showed her Dowling's severed head inside a Home Depot bucket.

"I see no basis upon which to interfere with the findings of the trial judge, and accordingly, I would dismiss the appeal," Hinkson said in his reasons.

Appeal Court Justices Risa Levine and Nicole Garson agreed.

Illes was first convicted by a jury in 2003. He lost his first appeal, but was granted a second trial by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2008, which resulted in the second guilty verdict.